Would You like to see a main event style storyline using the mid card titles?

[WWEvsJosh]

I always wondered what if the mid card titles had main event style storlines.

Like what if the Summer of Punk(2011) happen again but it was Cody Rhodes and Kofi fighting for the titles.

Or what if you had Wade had a IC or US title run but he was treated like The Miz when he held the WWE title.

Or if Ryback stills dominates and then has a Mark Henry type of World Champion run but with the IC title instead.

What if there was a Cena vs Edge fued with two mid carders but it was for one of the mid card titles?

What are your thoughts on this idea? Should WWE have main event storylines for the mid card?

 

[LoudClearVoice]

I think they absolutely should and they used to. They really got away from it in recent years and that's why the midcard titles have died out.

This would be the perfect time for really good midcard title storylines, given the way the roster is. There are too many main eventers and only 2 "main' belts.

It really don't understand why WWE thinks that it somehow "downgrades" a main eventer or "looks bad" if he wins a midcard title. Take a guy like Orton. I'd rather have him win the IC belt and feud with (and put over) a younger guy, than to just have him involved in random feuds. I know he's in the title picture now but he hasn't been for awhile.

WWE was kinda doing it with Cody and Big Show but I wouldn't call that a "main event" storyline.

The bottom line is that there could be great midcard feuds and great storylines. What about going back to Jericho vs. Christian for the IC belt?

 

[SD619]

Absolutely.

The last time that the mid-card title was remotely close to the main event was during the Rey-Y2J feud in 2009. The reason for that was it had a good personal storyline and great matches involving two guys people gave a damn about. You can't expect people to care about the titles if some random guy just walks out and challenges the champion for the title once every 2-3 weeks and there is no reason for him doing so.

The chances of such a thing happening in the near future is very remote as the WWE title itself is not the main event for months. The WHC itself is used as a semi-mid-card title these days with Cena vs older returning wrestler being the main event.

 

[cm ben]

Oh, for sure. I know it's probably not easy writing for the WWE, as they put out so much television each week without break, but the fact that I have to stop and remember who holds the Tag Team, US and IC titles is definitely a problem. Right now there's really no point to those titles--that seems to be a pretty common consensus around here, and it has been for a few years now.

They just recently really missed a chance to do this IMHO, when Cody Rhodes and RKO were feuding. This was right after Cody brought back the white belt and was talking it up so much--it would have made perfect sense for Randy to come out and say, I don't know, "Not only am I going to punt you in the head, I'm going to take away the only thing that matters to you." BAM. Solid feud, and the IC belt is the focal point of it. It's not like Randy had that much else to do after all--his feud with Kane came out of nowhere and had no story. Doing this would have made Cody and the IC belt look that much more legitimate. A gigantic missed opportunity by the writers!

Good thread!

 

[Workrate]

I genuinely had to stop and think really hard about who held the U.S. title before posting -- and I actually kind of like Santino (he, uh... still holds it, right?).

The short answer to your request is "yes, 100%." It won't happen though.

I actually saw videos the other day from Goldust defending the Intercontinental title against Ultimate Warrior and Undertaker. Can you imagine that today? The thing is, it wouldn't even have to be a "main event" level feud in terms of where the segments and matches occur in the card. At this point, merely having a feud over the title would be an improvement.

 

[Workrate]

They just recently really missed a chance to do this IMHO, when Cody Rhodes and RKO were feuding. This was right after Cody brought back the white belt and was talking it up so much--it would have made perfect sense for Randy to come out and say, I don't know, "Not only am I going to punt you in the head, I'm going to take away the only thing that matters to you." BAM. Solid feud, and the IC belt is the focal point of it. It's not like Randy had that much else to do after all--his feud with Kane came out of nowhere and had no story. Doing this would have made Cody and the IC belt look that much more legitimate. A gigantic missed opportunity by the writers!

And an extra two cents about this...

The reason they don't do that is because they think the title is beneath Orton. The problem, of course, with having a guy feud with a titleholder and not show any interest in the belt is that it devalues the championship almost completely. They may as well have the guy come out and say "look, I really hate you and want to kick your ass, but get that floppy belt thing out of my face."

For a really long time -- and this applies to the tag team titles as well -- I've been wondering why they don't have a decent midcard guy come out and cut a fairly simple promo where he says, more or less: "anyone with a working set of eyes can see that this title has lost its luster, and I want to bring it back -- I WANT the title." That's the key: make the title feel like a commodity. When Cody brought back the old school belt, it really seemed like that's what he was doing. He was honoring the heritage and wanted to bring the belt back to its previous level of prestige. But then he feuded with guys with no mention of the belt and went months without defending it. As you put it: "a gigantic missed opportunity."

 

[jrichardson25]

The problem with any title not just the midcard ones is the focal point is not on the belt. Shit, a lot of people have said it. Just say the person wants the belt and build off of that. Its a simple formula. I'd like to see feuds that BUILD the credibility of the title AND the person holding/chasing it. There have been opportunities... just missed like others have said... Big Show/Cody Rhodes has been flirting with the idea but it should focus on the belt and build off that not just the personal aspects...

 

[TheLoneCharles]

This is where TNA outshines WWE, IMO. I like how they have a ranking system for each title and is basically a set of standings for the organization. With WWE, it's basically let's throw some crap at the wall and see if it sticks.

I particularly hate how Big Show had the IC belt since NO ONE goes over him cleanly, and although I was happy with the last few US Title reigns, I'm waiting for a monster heel to crush Santino decisively.

Shows like Superstars and even Smackdown should heavily feature these undercard feuds. I'd love to see Ryback pull a Warrior VS Honky Tonk Man moment against Cody Rhodes at Summerslam. Free Rhodes up to explore the upper main event, and let Ryback go on a destruction spree with the title until he is bogusly "stripped" of it months later for storyline purposes.

 

[xavyer]

This is why the ATTITUDE ERA was better than today, because back then the mid card meant something, i remember triple H after a couple of WWE title runs won the IC title from Kane, or when the Undertaker won the Hardcore title, i remember they brought a lot of credibility to the titles, or when Shawn Michaels won the European title while he was the WWE champion, or when Austin/Triple H won the tagteam titles, this is why the Attitude Era was the greatest era in WWE history, and now even the WHC or the WWE championship are meaningless because they are not even in the main event now, much less the US or IC titles, what i would do is give the IC or US title to Wade Barret, in my opinion he's the one that can bring some prestige to the mid card, also have Ziggler geting a push, but before he gets to be a maineventer have him in the upper mid card, Antonio Cesaro has also the ability to be an upper mid card, the WWE creative team have the tools to make the mid card talent great, they have the right superstars, but right now their focus is on two or three guys and that's it.......

 

[bryan51348]

I like the idea. Summerslam 1992 we saw Bret Hart and British Bulldog steal the show in one of the most remarkable ic title matches ever. The two main evented the show and was the first time that the ic title was more prestigous than the wwe title.

I think if we saw a Punk/Bryan fued over the ic title, the title would have meant something.

 

[Killercam]

Only way you could accomplish that though is to make the titles more relevant. First you have to end the brand split, then you have to unify the world titles. Plus it honestly wouldn't hurt to just do a 3 hour show once a week (with Wwe network you can get your lower card matches, rookie matches, reviews etc. In, make people pay to see the future) Then do 4 hour ppvs and make Mania 5 hours. Imagine how much $ they would save by not having to do shows on Tuesday's. They could do house shows in different places we'd-sun and then Raw becomes a mega show every week and they could sell 40,000 tickets to every Raw.

 

[TempestH]

Only way you could accomplish that though is to make the titles more relevant. First you have to end the brand split, then you have to unify the world titles. Plus it honestly wouldn't hurt to just do a 3 hour show once a week (with Wwe network you can get your lower card matches, rookie matches, reviews etc. In, make people pay to see the future) Then do 4 hour ppvs and make Mania 5 hours. Imagine how much $ they would save by not having to do shows on Tuesday's. They could do house shows in different places we'd-sun and then Raw becomes a mega show every week and they could sell 40,000 tickets to every Raw.

I'd have a better idea. Unify the World Titles, and have the Intercontinental Champion be THE GUY on SmackDown. Instead of trying to keep up the pretense that RAW and SmackDown are equal, you can have the IC Champion be the main focus of SmackDown (with the WWE Champion making minimal appearances for promos and the occasional one-off match).

 

[ultramattman]

I'd have a better idea. Unify the World Titles, and have the Intercontinental Champion be THE GUY on SmackDown. Instead of trying to keep up the pretense that RAW and SmackDown are equal, you can have the IC Champion be the main focus of SmackDown (with the WWE Champion making minimal appearances for promos and the occasional one-off match).

This changes EVERYTHING. Instead of Smackdown revolving around the World Heavyweight Championship, instead it will revolve around the Intercontinental Championship!

Oh wait, that changes absolutely nothing except for the name of the Smackdown title. So what's the point?

And for everyone who LOVES the idea of using a midcard belt for a 'main event' storyline - what's your plan for the WWE and WHC titles while this is going on? Midcard storylines?

Look, the simple truth is that you can promote the IC title all you want, it's still going to be the #3 belt at the end of the day. Doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't do what you can to elevate the IC belt, but there's a built-in ceiling when there are two titles ahead of it. And that's fine. The WHC is a better #2 belt anyway, in my opinion.

The ironic thing is that the current IC feud has everything people are clamoring for. Meaningful wrestlers (legendary main eventer Big Show and cusp-of-main-event Cody Rhodes) are battling (trading the title back and forth) over a title they care about (Cody even personalized the belt!) in a 'main event style' (got its own Wrestlemania match, unlike recent years) storyline. It's exactly what people say doesn't happen anymore.

 

[TempestH]

This changes EVERYTHING. Instead of Smackdown revolving around the World Heavyweight Championship, instead it will revolve around the Intercontinental Championship!

Oh wait, that changes absolutely nothing except for the name of the Smackdown title. So what's the point?

And for everyone who LOVES the idea of using a midcard belt for a 'main event' storyline - what's your plan for the WWE and WHC titles while this is going on? Midcard storylines?

Look, the simple truth is that you can promote the IC title all you want, it's still going to be the #3 belt at the end of the day. Doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't do what you can to elevate the IC belt, but there's a built-in ceiling when there are two titles ahead of it. And that's fine. The WHC is a better #2 belt anyway, in my opinion.

The ironic thing is that the current IC feud has everything people are clamoring for. Meaningful wrestlers (legendary main eventer Big Show and cusp-of-main-event Cody Rhodes) are battling (trading the title back and forth) over a title they care about (Cody even personalized the belt!) in a 'main event style' (got its own Wrestlemania match, unlike recent years) storyline. It's exactly what people say doesn't happen anymore.

This is why the World Titles need to be unified. In the idea I had, the WWE Title feud would take place on RAW, but the champion could appear on Smackdown for a short interview, promo, or throwaway match.'' Since RAW is the flag ship show, it would feature the #1 champion.

SmackDown is the B-show, so it would center around the #2 champion. If the brands were equal and the champions were equal in star power, then the current booking would be fine. However, the brands are no longer equal, and pretty much every SD star that gets the slightest bit over with the fans is usually sent to RAW, stripping SmackDown of its star power and making the WHC look like a midcard belt in the process.

The problem is that the WHC isn't supposed to be the #2 belt. It's supposed to be EQUAL to the WWE Championship. The way the World Heavyweight Title is booked is exactly how the Intercontinental Title should be booked.

The Rhodes/Big Show feud for the most part, isn't about the title. The belt is just....there.